Whip stock



S. G. ACKLEY WHIP STOCK Aug. 29, '1939.

Fila Dec. 18, 1937 XIV k\\\\ .7 s \ix 0 Patented Aug. 29, 1939 UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE to Peoples Finance and Thrift Company ofBakersfield, Bakersfield, Calif., a corporation of CaliforniaApplication December 18, 1937, Serial No. 180,603

Claims.

This invention relates to whipstocks. These devices are employed in awell hole to enable the drill bit to be deflected; Thisv is necessary indrilling operations for different reasons; for ex- 5 ample, to deflect adrill so as to avoid extremely hard formation that may be encounteredindrilling the well, or a lost tool. 1'

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a whipstock that canbe carried down into the well on a drill, and which is maintained in afolded or unextended condition while passing down the well, but which,upon reaching the bottom of the well, will automatically gove to anextended position, thereby presentin a guide in the path of the drill,which will defl t the drill from alignment with the axis of the hole.

A further object of the invention is to provide awhipstock of simpleconstruction for this purpose, and having improved means for releasingit so as to enable its parts to occupy an extended relation to obstructthe lower end of the hole, and cause a deflection of the bit as itdescends past the whipstock.

Further objects of the invention will appear hereinafter.

The invention consists in the novel parts and combination of parts to bedescribed hereinafter, all of which contribute to produce an efficientwhipstock. V

A preferred embodiment of the invention is described in the followingspecification, while the broad scope of the invention is pointed out inthe appended claims.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section taken through a well hole and showing mywhipstock in position after it, has been expanded or extended, and isoperated to deflect the bit. This view shows a portion of the whipstockshank in section.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the whipstock, and showing itsparts in their unextended relation; that is to say, in the relation theyhave when the tool is being run down the well. The upper portion of thisView illustrates the lower end of a drill bit in side-elevation andpartially in' section. I

Fig. 3 is a cross-section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a horizontal cross-section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Before proceeding to a more detailed description of the invention, itshould be stated that in practicing the invention I provide a pair ofmembers movably connected together and capable of being held in anunextended relation so that other.

they can be passed down a well. This is effected through the agency ofsome-- kind of latching means, which is constructed in such a way thatwhen the whipstock arrives at the bottom of the well, the latching meanswill be released and enable the device to extend itself; that is to say,

' enable the two relatively movable parts to swing apart. One of theparts after being extended in this way, presents itself in an inclinedposition so that it is capable of operating to deflect the drill fromthe axis of the well. In the present instance, the whipstock isdescribed as having frangible means for attaching the same to the sideof the drill collar. passed down the well with the drill string, but assoon as the whipstock has been sprung, that is to say, extended at thebottom of the well, the continued downward movement of the drill willbreak the frangible means and permit the drill to engage the whipstockand be deflected by it.

In practicing the invention, and referring to Fig. '2 as illustrating apreferred embodiment of the invention, the whipstock has a body com:-prising two members I and 2, which are movably secured together to swingon a substantially horizontal axis, preferably by means of a hinge pin,3.- These two members are provided with" resilient means for urging themto an open or extended position, and in the present instance, this meanscomprises two leaf springs 4 and 5 This enables it to be attachedrespectively to the adjacent faces ofthe members I and 2, and pressingagainst each In addition to this, I provide means for holding the partsI and 2 in a folded or unextended relation to enable the whipstock to bepassed down the well. For this purpose I prefer to provide a latch 6 ofinverted U-form having a relatively long stem 1 that is guided throughone of the members so as to project downwardly below the lower end ofthe'whi'pstock. When the lower end of this stem 1 strikes the bottom ofthe well, or an obstruction in the well, it pushes the latch upwardlyand disconnects a short arm or pintle 8 from an opening 9 in which it isguided, said opening 9 passing through a lug l0 opposite to a similarlug ll through which the stem 1 is guided. The release of the device inthis wayof the well or hole.

The member 2 may be considered as a guiding member for the drill that isto be deflected. and in order to facilitate its performing thisfunction, it is preferably provided on its outer side .with'a deflectingplate M, the upper end of which is relatively deeply curved transverselyso as to enable it to fit against the concave face of the other platel5, which may be considered to form the body of the whipstock. Thisplate l5 has an upwardly extending concavo convex shank IS, the upperend of which is attached to a drill collar I! by frangible means such asa frangible pin or bolt [8. The lower end of the guide plate It is onlyslightly concave, as indicated. The lower end of the guide plate I4 ispreferably: formed with an inwardly inclined extension or chisel or spurl9, which is intended to engage the hard formation at the bottom of thewell so as to prevent the thrust of the drill from pushing the guideplate out of its Way. This is important, for it is evident that thesprings 4 and 5 would be wholly inadequate to hold the guide plate I4from swinging inwardly under the action of the thrust of the drill. Thischisel point l9 may be reinforced at each side by an integral flange 20.

When the drill head 2| carried by the drill collar, is forced downwardlyby thrust in the tool string 22, the bolt l8 will be sheared and thedrill will be deflected by the guide plate I, as indicated in Fig. 1.This view, however, somewhat exaggerates the curvature in the drillstring due to the deflection of the drill head.

Referring again to Fig. 2, it will be noted that in this figure the"kicker or pusher member I, is of substantially rectangularform inoutline,

. as viewed from the rear, and the adjacent por- 'the combination of aguide member and a pusher tion of the member 2 is cut away to form asubstantially rectangular socket or 'gap 23 to receive it. When thewhipstock is passing down the well, the shank I6 is substantially inline with the back of the pusher member l,-as indicated in Fig. 2, butafter the release of the whipstock occurs, the joint formed by the hingepin 3:will, of course, spring forwardly; that is, toward the axis of thewell, so that the parts will have substantially the relation indicatedin Fig. 1. '50 a It is understood that the embodiment of the inventiondescribed herein is only one of the many embodiments this invention maytake, and I do not wish to be limited in the practice of the invention,"nor in'the claims, to'the particular .'embodiment set forth.

What I claim is: Q

1. In a whipstock fordeflecting a drilling tool in a well to change'the'direction of the well bore,

member pivotally attached thereto; one of said members having anextension at its upper end for attachment to the side of a drillcolla'ron a drill string; said extension'lying adjacent the side ofthe'wel l bore so as to, leave the well'bore un-'- obstructed forthepassage of a drilling tool, resilient means'urging the said membersapart and toward an extended relation at their lower ends, and a latchfor latching said members in an un extended relation while passing downthe well,

said latch-having means for engaging the well bottom or an obstructionin the well bore to release the same, to enable the pusher member toengage one side of the well bore and cooperate with the resilientxmeahsto force the lower end of theoth'er;mmber;laterally.in.the we1l.:

her 2 will be pushed toward the opposite side 2. In a whipstock fordeflecting a drilling tool in a well, the combination of a bodycomprising a same by contact with the well. bottom or an obstruction inthe well bore, said deflecting memher having means at its lower end tobite into the well bottom and prevent the thrust of the drill whilebeing deflected, from pushing the deflecting member aside.

3. In a whipstock for deflecting a drilling tool in a well, thecombination of a guide member and a pusher member pivotally attachedthereto, one of said members having an extension at its upper end forattachment to a drill collar ona drill string, resilient means urgingthe said members apart and toward an extended relational; their lowerends, and a latch for latching said members in an unextended relationwhile passing down the well, said latch having means for engaging thewell bottom or an obstruction in the well bore to release the same, toenable the pusher member to engage one side of the well bore andcooperate with the resilient means to force the lower end of the othermember laterally in the well, to assume an inclined position extendingacross the well bore, said guide member having a spur below operating tobite intothe well bottom and prevent the thrust of the drill frompushing the guide member to one side.:

4. In a whipstock for deflecting a drilling tool in a well, thecombination of a bodvmember having an upwardly extending shank ofconcaveconvex form in substantially horizontal section adapting the samefor attachmentjtothe-side' of side of the well bore, said body memberhaving an inclined guide extensionto be engaged by the drill anddeflected, a pusher member pivotally attached to the body memberv andextending downwardly substantially in alignment withthe shank, resilientmeans between the ,guide exten sion and the pusher member urging thepusher member toward the wall of the well, and urging the guide memberto assume an inclined position acrossthe well bore, and a latch forlatching the pusher member in its unextended position, said latch havingan extension projecting below the lower end of the pusher member andoperating when it strikes the bottom of the well or an obstruction inthe bore, to disengage the latch.

5. In-a whipstock for deflecting a drillingtool a drill collar, saidshank located adjacentthe,

in a well, the combination of a body composed of a pair of memberspivotally connected to each other, resilientmeans for urging the saidmembers to swing apart into an extended position,

one of said members to operate as a deflecting member and being made toassume -an inclined position extending acro s sthe well;;boreforde-'flecting a well tool, and latching means for holding- -said-memberstogether inanuhextended position, said latching means having means forreleasing the same by contact with the well bottom or an obstruction inthe well bore;said 'deflectof the=drlll while being deflected, frompushing giggin

